Selke nomination a deserving honor for Bruins' Bergeron

For what seems like an eternity, Bruins' fans have been pining
for Patrice Bergeron to get the recognition he so fully deserves.

Under coach Claude Julien, the B's alternate captain has
regularly matched up with and shut down the opposition's top line
on a nightly basis, all while still managing to produce at a high
rate down the other end of the ice.

On Monday, the NHL named Bergeron as one of the three candidates
for the Selke Trophy, awarded annually to the game's best defensive
forward.

"It’s obviously a huge honor," said Bergeron.
" I’m flattered by it, to be named with two great
players like [David] Backes and [Pavel] Datsyuk. But still, I think
it goes for all my teammates and I really believe in that."

This is Bergeron’s first time being nominated for the
Selke Trophy in his eight year NHL career. The 26-year-old led the
NHL in plus/minus this season at plus-36 and won the most faceoffs
in the NHL with 973.

Bergeron’s faceoff win percentage of 59.3% was second best
in the NHL, trailing only Chicago’s Jonathan Towes by .1%
(59.4%).

Despite such personal accolades, Bergeron still deflected all
the credit to others.

"I take pride in playing both sides of the rink and the
little details in order to help the team win as much as I can," he
said. "But the same time, I don’t really believe in
individual awards as much as the team efforts. I think every
time you’re nominated for an award like that it’s
because of your teammates and the help of all of them."

Julien, who has coached Bergeron for five seasons now and long
sung the center's praises, feels as though no one defines the
meaning of the award better than his pivotal pivot.

"In my mind, there’s no doubt that Patrice deserves this
(with) the way he’s played this year, the things he’s
done to be nominated, how good he’s been defensively,"
Boston's bench boss said. " He’s got two young players
on each side of him, he’s played against top players all year
long and he’s the best plus player probably of that group.
Faceoff wise, he’s been utilized in every situation.
Offensively, defensively, key situations – he’s done
everything to deserve that. To be honest with you, I’d be
very disappointed if he didn’t win that. That’s how I
feel."